Stough liked to sing and teach singing. He noticed how his fellow singers would belt out a few measures, stop to take a breath, and then belt out a few more. Each seemed to be gasping for air, holding it high in the chest, and releasing it too soon. Singing, talking, yawning, sighing—any vocalization we make occurs during the exhalation. Stough’s students had thin and weak voices because, he believed, they had thin and weak exhalations. While directing choirs at Westminster Choir College in New Jersey, Stough began training his singers to exhale properly, to build up their respiratory muscles
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